Chapter 25
Before Celia came to work at the daycare, she’d never even touched a disposable diaper, but it was far easier to put on and take off than she’d feared. She had just gotten the fasteners attached when she heard a knock at the door. From where she stood in the back bedroom, she heard the door open and then it struck her like the roll of thunder after a drought—Manny’s voice. He’d finally shown up. Her hands shook as she snapped the baby’s onesie.
Out in the living room, the children called his name. “Give me a ride, Manny. Please give me a ride.”
As she dressed the baby, she forced herself to take slow, calm breaths. He was probably here to see Della. Della was his girlfriend now. He was probably going to take her somewhere—Isobella was always telling Celia about Manny taking Della to the movies or the park or a restaurant.
Celia sat on the edge of the bed and bounced the baby gently on her knee. There was no mirror in the room, but she didn’t need one. She would never look right again, and her pregnancy didn’t help.
Then Della appeared at the bedroom door. “Manny wants to talk to you.” She reached for the baby. “Here, I’ll take little Paulo.”
While Celia sat motionless with shock, Della lifted the baby out of her arms. He wanted to talk to her? As if in a dream, Celia walked to the bathroom and washed her hands. Then, without even thinking to smooth her hair or paste on a smile, she inched her way into the living room, where Manny crawled around on his hands and knees, two children on his back. When he saw her, he looked up, a broad smile on his face. “Time’s up, kids,” he said, and they slid off his back with a groan of disappointment.
Excitement danced in his eyes, and she caught his enthusiasm, making her forget all about her enormous belly. It was almost as if they stood back on the black sands of Fogo again, and Manny was making toys out of tin cans for the neighborhood kids. As soon as the kids collected four or five empty cans, they’d come clanging up the road, calling his name. In those days, he could make anything out of tin cans—cars to race, stilts to walk on, robot puppets that moved as if on their own, or wind chimes to hang by the front door.
Now, here they were in a city of cement with no need for tin-can toys, and Manny was still delighting the children.
Everything had changed and yet nothing had changed.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, sitting down on the sofa, where two tote bags rested, each stuffed with padded envelopes.
She sat on the other end of the sofa. “Oh?”
“Mama, Flora, and I have been selling our totes online. Della showed us how to do it, and we’re making good money now.” He exchanged a look with Della, who sat at the table with the baby and her laptop. There was a softness in his eyes when he looked at Della, but to Celia, it felt like a dagger, a reminder that things would never be the same as they’d been on Fogo. “Flora told me this morning that you’ve been making earrings, and we were wondering if you’d like to sell some of them in our online shop.”
She had been making earrings with Vicki, just for fun. Plus, she still had all the supplies she’d brought from North Carolina, enough to make twenty more pairs.
In his enthusiasm, Manny pulled out his phone and showed her the site where he sold his totes. Little squares appeared on the screen, each picturing a different pattern of fabric tote. “We could take photos of your earrings, and put them on here too. I’m still learning about online sales, but it seems to me that the more products we have on the site, the more traffic we get, and the more sales we make. Of course, I would make sure you get all the profits from the earrings that sell.”
She forgot all about her missing tooth and let a smile creep onto her face. “You really think people would buy my earrings?”
His eyes never left hers. “Sure. Anyway, it doesn’t cost anything to try. Della and I could help you set up your own shop if you’d rather do it on your own.”
Della came across the room, still holding the baby, and sat on the arm of the sofa next to Manny, smiling down at him. “Celia gave me a pair of her earrings the other day. They’re real pretty, and people will like that they’re made from recycled materials.” She touched her hand to his shoulder.
Isobella piped up from the other side of the room. “Rich people love stuff like that—they’ll buy any frivolous thing if they think they’re helping the environment.”
Della and Manny laughed, but Celia kept her eyes on Della’s hand, where it rested on Manny’s shoulder. He hadn’t moved away from her. In fact, he may have moved closer. He liked her.
“Do you need some time to think about it?” Manny asked.
She stiffened. She couldn’t stand to see them together like this, and it would be even worse if she sold things with Manny. She was about to decline his offer, when Isobella ran across the room to the window. Della followed her. Then the children and Manny. “Looks like a fight,” Isobella said, shaking her head. “And this early in the day too.”
Shouting came from the street. When she got to the window, she saw three teenage boys beating on a fourth. They showed no mercy, dragging him through the snow by his collar and pounding his head against the pavement. It brought her back to her last moments with André, how he’d beaten her right there on the street. If Sofia hadn’t come to her rescue, she could have died.
Onlookers pulled out their phones to videotape the event while Isobella opened the window. “You boys stop that! I’ve got little children here watching you. Think of the example you’re setting for them. Do you want them to grow up to be like you?”
None of the teens glanced Isobella’s way. One of them pulled out a knife.
“I’d better go out there,” Manny said, running for the door.
“No.” Della handed the baby to Isobella and started punching numbers into her phone. “That’s not a good idea,” she yelled as Manny left the apartment. “I’m calling the police. Let them deal with it.”
Celia tried to look away, but her gaze stayed riveted on André—no, not André. It was someone else that was beating on the boy. Manny and Isobella’s voices faded into the distance, and Celia shrank into herself. Feeling like she ought to run, but knowing there was nowhere to go, she pressed herself flat against the wall.
As her knees buckled beneath her, she leaned into the wall and let it support her as she listened to Della explaining the situation on the phone.
Celia slumped down to the floor and tried to forget about the fight, but she could still hear the shouting, and it seemed to be getting louder. Even with her hands pressed to her ears, the sound grated across her ear drums. On Fogo Island, on the rare occasion when a fight broke out, boys had the decency to fight one on one. They didn’t gang up on each other.
Why had she been so obsessed with coming to America?
“You okay, Celia?” Isobella asked, setting the baby down in his porta-crib. She looked through the window. “There’s nothing to worry about. Soon as Manny started talking to those thugs, the mean ones up and ran off.”
“I’m okay.” Celia said, but inside, she wondered if she might be going a little sick in the head. There was no reason to be so scared. Those teenagers couldn’t even see her.
Isobella helped her sit down on the sofa. Della peeked through the curtains as she continued to talk on the phone. “It looks like it’s over now.” She sat down on the sofa beside Celia. “No, I don’t think he actually used the knife. My boyfriend went to talk to them, and they all scattered.”
Celia swallowed hard. Della had called Manny her boyfriend. They were as serious as she’d feared.
Isobella was trying to herd the children away from the window when Manny came back through the door. “Let’s have Manny give you all another horse ride,” Isobella called, clapping her hands to get the children’s attention. “Will you, Manny?”
“I’ll do one better,” Manny said. “I’ll take them on an airplane ride.” He latched onto little Emily and swung her around in circles, holding onto her hand and foot.
“Whee,” she cried.
After a few rotations, he brought her down for a soft landing beside Celia. “Are you okay, Celia? You look a little pale.” He sat down beside her as the other children piled onto him, begging for their own rides.
She picked at a fleck of dust on her skirt, fighting to keep her voice steady. “That fight brought back some bad memories. That’s all.”
“About André?” he asked.
She nodded but didn’t elaborate.
“I wish I’d been there to protect you,” he said, his voice soft, as if he didn’t want Della and Isobella to overhear.
She lifted her gaze to his. “Me too.”
Another little girl rushed at him, and he stood to swing her around. Celia couldn’t help laughing a little at the sight. He really was the same old Manny. Only now, she’d lost him to Della. The thought killed the last bit of laughter left in her.
After he finished the last airplane ride, he sat down beside her again. “I hope I didn’t stress you out with all my talk about business.”
“Of course not, Manny.” Right now, all she could think about was getting back to Fogo—back where she could raise her child the way she knew best and where she wouldn't see Manny and Della together. To go back, she needed lots of money, and she needed it as soon as possible.
“Flora just happened to mention that you make earrings. We’ll have to talk about it another day.” He stood and grabbed his coat out of the closet.
Maybe she could do her business through Flora. “Actually, I’d like to give it a try. I’ll give Flora some earrings if she wants to stop by Theo’s house in a couple days.”
“Great!” Manny said, and as the children clamored around him, begging for another ride, he reached his hand to Celia the way men sometimes shake hands when they’re doing business.
She took his hand in hers, expecting to soak in the familiarity of it, but it wasn’t familiar. His hands were calloused now, the hands of a laborer, and a firm, confident grip had replaced the gentle grasp she remembered.
∞∞∞
After her work ended with Isobella, Celia walked home, planning all the beautiful jewelry she could make for Manny’s store. She would make some of her flower earrings from water bottles, but she also wanted to experiment with disc shapes and rectangles. She planned to try out some new colors of paint too. Then she spotted Christmas wreaths on a few doors and decided she’d try making one of her own by cutting and flattening aluminum cans.
She hadn’t stopped collecting recyclables since she left North Carolina. She still had a little stash in her room. Though she’d felt exhausted from her pregnancy over the last few weeks, all her new ideas exhilarated her, and she sang as she walked.
As usual, when she arrived home at Theo’s house, no one else was home. She heated herself a bowl of bean soup as she laid the earring hardware on the table. She had headpins, jump rings, small silver beads, and French hooks, along with some paints and markers.